I agree, they look almost identical, surely 900 vs 500 lumen there’d be a visible difference?!
So far there ain’t no way I’m buying a SC600II!!!
At that distance (~1m), wouldn’t it depend on the beam spread to look different? I don’t know if the camera I was using (on a tablet) would show an intensity difference.
Output aside, how’s the overall feel and quality of the SC600MKII? I really like my SC52 so I’m hoping the SC600II is just as good. I’ve been thinking of getting one for a while.
Do you mean the physical “feel”? It feels like a slightly larger version of the SC52. Finish is equal/equivalent to the SC52, i.e., the same kind of anodization, color, etc. Switch feels very similar to the SC52. Threading feels similar to SC52.
The clip is different. On the SC52, it’s screwed in, and at least on the one I got, was already attached. For the SC600 MKII I got, the clip was separate, and it’s a snap-on type clip, rather than screwed in. It snaps on to a kind of recessed part of the light, and it looks like you put it on either end (there’re recessed parts of both end of the SC600 MKII). The clip on the SC52 looks shinier than then one on the SC600 MKII, to me at least.
Great, thanks for the comments. I really like the anodization, color, threading, etc. of the SC52. Just feels like quality. 
So good to know the SC600II is equivalent. I think I’m going to need to pick up one of these. 8)
Don’t use those pics as a comparison of brightness. They are waaaaay overexposed. The only information you can get from them is that the size of the overexposed areas are roughly the same. To get an idea of beam shape and brightness there needs to be a series of pictures taken at different exposure levels (shutter speed, film speed, aperture). OR, since these two lights are fairly close comparisons, find the highest exposure level that can be used without overexposing any area of the SC600 (your camera should have a setting that alerts you of overexposed areas). Then use that exposure setting to compare the two lights.
Thanks for the pics! I just want to make sure you’re giving the SC600 Mk II a fair chance.
Definitely still looking forward to some real life beamshots to show the difference better before I buy
Full exif info on those pictures are not availabe, but both are ISO 50.
Cant tell if its the same exposure by that.
Im guessing you did not use manual exposure?
Use the same manual settings for both if that feature is available and you can handle it. Preferably, underexpose the SC600 and use same settings for the SC52.
If not take a picture like you did, but with both lights on, showing both beams side by side. That is the easiest way to get a fairly good comparison.
Hi,
Tried side-by-side, but both beams kept blending into each other :(.
Tried outside, but the pics just look black to me :(… Here they are anyway, both lights on high. A tree, about maybe 25 yards away?
SC52:
SC600:
Tried again, with tablet camera in “night” scene (no manual as far as I can tell) and ISO 100?
SC52:
SC600:
I think these are azalea bushes in our backyard, closer than the earlier pics. Both lights on high (and I was freezing outside)…
Much better beamshots. Is the SC600II floody like the SC52? If they are both on high, then the SC600II looks much brighter in those photo’s.
Plus, remember one thing. The SC600 MKII will give you 900 lms for 5 min than step down to 500 for approx 2 hrs on my AW 3100 batteries. The SC52 (my next purchase) will give you 500 lms for just one min than drop to 280 lms for 0.9 hrs. So, output and runtimes put these in two totally different classes. The SC600 is very small IMO but the SC52 would be a true EDC.
You have to remember that our vision doesn’t see double the brightness as double the brightness, a 40% increase looks like only a slight increase unless held side by side.
I have the first gen sc600 and it outthrows and is decently brighter than my sc52, only at range does the sc600 have the edge, and you don’t grab a zebralight for throw 
I’d suggest something throwier unless your looking as a replacement for your sc52.
Although It is nice to have both lights on you to have the same UI sometimes
Yes, both the SC52 and SC600 were/are floody, very similar.
TL;DR - A 900 lumen flashlight is much brighter than a 500 lumen flashlight.
In order to produce an apparent increase of doubling the perceived brightness, you would need as a general rule of thumb four times the light.
The way we perceive brightness is also not linear at all.
Meaning for example that you would not see a 500 lumen light as being as being five times as bright as a 100 lumen. Nor would a 1lumen light appear 900 times dimmer than a 900 lumen light.
The only way you can reliable observe the increase in brightness indoors, without a luxmeter & sphere is not whitewall hunting, but to observe the differences in the diffuse lighting. Up close the hotspot is just too bright and will not reliable convey the difference as well.
So if you're wondering, WOah! Wait!?!?! Is this light really that much brighter. Set down the two lights side by side in a room in complete dark. Turn on one light and point it at the ceiling. Observe how it lights up the side walls, the floor, everything around you. DO NOT LOOK UP AT THE HOTSPOT. Turn it off the light. WAIT for 10-30 seconds, and then do the same with the other light. Repeat a few times.
Most of the time, assuming the tint of the LED is similar, you will be able to easily see that one light is brighter than the other.
Another factor to consider, is that we do not perceive all wavelengths of the visible spectrum in the same way.
What we see in the spectrum is limited to roughly between 390nm to 700nm. (With some variance in sensitivity at the shorter and longer wavelengths from person to person.)
How well you perceive specific colors, can also vary quite a bit from person to person, and affect perceived brightness.
At the same time the our cones correspond only as follow;
As a result, for example, 150mW of 405nm laser light will appear only about as bright as 5mW of 532nm light.
What this means to flashlights, is the difference in tint from one LED to the next, can very seriously impact perceived brightness.
When all is said and done, the only way to truly measure the differences, is with calibrated instruments.
Interesting information, thank you
Ditto.
The SC600 mkII at 900lm is only one visual step brighter than the SC52 at 280lm, and if you compare 900 vs 500 (or 500 vs 280, after step-down) the difference is even smaller. The main thing you get with the SC600 is longer runtime. Great light for use on bike handlebars, though a cheap Convoy S3 would be just as nice for that sort of thing (possibly better, since the S3 is pretty floody).
However, it appears that the SC600 has a somewhat smaller hotspot and more focused beam, so you should get better throw. It would be a definite win for outdoor or distance use, though as CarpentryHero said, it’s not a thrower.
The way I see it, both lights are very nice but it’s a bit redundant to have both. Take your pick — smaller size or longer runtimes — because the overall output isn’t hugely different.
Thanks for taking the time to explain, I already own the SC52 (and love it) so might not worry about the SC600II
Bought my SC600 MKI at least a year ago for $95 and my SC52 at the release for $55.
The SC52 has made my SC600 almost obsolete as it´s almost as bright (on 14500) and much more edc-able.
The clip on the SC52 is really good and the one for the SC600 sucks (imho)…. why couldn´t they just have made it a decent screw-on clip instead…. 
Sure, the SC600 is still a really nice solid light and if I need longer runtime I bring it, but most of the time the SC52 is enough.
Um, I just noticed something on my SC52. It appears to have PWM on the L1 mode (2.7lm).
I thought I was imagining it, but I compared it against other lights and I’m pretty sure what I’m seeing is really there.
So far it appears to only be on the 2.7lm mode, and it’s not very noticeable during use. I just did a quick check by random chance and was surprised at the result. It looks like it has PWM, and the frequency seems similar to my XinTD C8 V3 (which IIRC runs at about 4.5 kHz). I then tried it with an Eneloop. The PWM went away. Put a 14500 back in and the PWM came back.
The easiest way I’ve found to check is to rapidly wave a white business card back and forth through the beam with a dark background behind.
My H51w doesn’t have PWM. My L3 L10-219 doesn’t have PWM. But the SC52 does. And while trying other lights, I found that the JETBeam RRT01 has something like PWM, but instead of a square wave at 2% duty cycle, it seems to use a steady sine wave.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone else can confirm that the SC52 has PWM on L1 with a 14500 battery.